On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Angela Riley, Chief Justice of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Professor of Law and American Indian Studies at UCLA, about indigenous sovereignty and human rights in the United States. Together they discuss: the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, what sovereignty means for tribes in …

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates is joined by Bevin Croft and Ebony Flint from the Human Services Research Institute for a conversation about the intersections of mental health and human rights in the wake of new guidance on mental health issued in October 2023 by the World Health Organization and the Office of the High C…

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse talks with Claire Charters who was recently named in the role of Rongomau Taketake to lead work on the Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Charters is a Professor at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law specializing in indigenous peoples’ rights in …

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Karla Torres and Catalina Martinez Coral from the Center for Reproductive Rights. On November 8, 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a landmark hearing on the human rights violations caused by the reversal of Roe v. Wade and the move to ban abortion …

Today on Justice Matters we take a deep dive into the UN Business Human Rights Forum, which just wrapped up its 12th iteration at the end of 2023. Co-host Aminta Ossom attended the forum and interviewed working group member Robert McCorquodale to get some background on the inner workings of the Forum. Ossom also spoke with long-time attendee of the…

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates talks with Jill Collen Jefferson, a civil and human rights lawyer and the founder of Julian, a national organization based in Mississippi that works to attack discrimination in all forms through legal advocacy, organizing, policy, and innovation. With experience on Capitol Hill, at think-t…

On today’s episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Daniel A. Bell, Chair of Political Theory with the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong. They discuss topics from Professor Bell’s most recent book, “Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World” which include: academic freedoms in …

On today's episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Shoshana Zuboff, author of the acclaimed book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. They discuss a number of topics from her landmark book including: the idea of surveillance capitalism, the harm of disinformation, the f…

On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Maggie Gates, Executive Director of the Carr Center, talks with Sarah Zoen, Associate Director at Pillar Two — an organization that advises businesses on human rights due diligence — about how to navigate shopping for the holidays while keeping human rights and ethical business practices in mind. Together…

On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Kathryn Sikkink, the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, speaks with two veterans of the human rights movement, John Salzberg and Joe Eldridge. John Salzberg was the key staff member working with Representative Don Fraser to hold the first set of hearings about the …

On this episode of Justice Matters, host Aminta Ossom interviews Jeff Vogt, Director of the Rule of Law Program at the Solidarity Center. Vogt is also the co-founder of the International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network, which brings together over 700 worker rights lawyers from around the globe. In 2022, he was appointed to the International Labor…

On this episode of Justice Matters, co-host Mathias Risse speaks with Kenneth Roth, who led Human Rights Watch as its Executive Director for almost 30 years. Together they discuss the history of Human Rights Watch and Roth's reflections on his tenure, whether human rights still hold power in the world, how to bring about change in countries with ab…

Justice Matters will return this October. In the meantime, we'd like to share with you a podcast we think you will enjoy by our friends over at Strength & Solidarity.Strength & Solidarity is a podcast about the tools, tactics, and ideas driving and disrupting the human rights movement around the world. Host Akwe Amosu has over 30 episodes of interv…

The human rights podcast Justice Matters returns this October with host Maggie Gates, Executive Director of the Carr Center, and a team of Harvard faculty members acting as rotating co-hosts, including Mathias Risse, Aminta Ossom, Rob Wilkinson, and Yanilda Gonzalez.By Maggie Gates, Aminta Ossom, Rob Wilkinson, Yanilda Gonzalez, Mathias Risse

On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Dr. Leslie Alexander about the history of Black Internationalism and its ties to today’s global Black Lives Matter movement. Her newest book, Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States, examines how the Haitian Revolution and the emer…

Where do universal human rights begin? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Professor Martha Davis about local movements and human rights cities. Davis teaches constitutional law, US human rights advocacy, and professional responsibility at Northeastern Law School, where she is a Faculty Director for the Program for Hum…

What is critical race theory and why is it under attack? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman discusses critical race theory with Dr. Victor Ray, Carr Center Fellow and F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor at the University of Iowa. Together they explore the related topics of structural racism and intersectionality, and how race s…

What is black witnessing, and how does it connect to movements for racial equity and justice? Can capturing a moment shape a movement? On this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman speaks with Dr. Allissa Richardson about the power of communication on social and racial justice. Dr. Richardson is an Associate Professor of Journalism at USC A…

What is the responsibility of businesses to uphold human rights? What is the role of civil society to hold businesses accountable? And how well is the human rights movement equipped to deal with the emerging challenges of the digital age? In this episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman discusses these questions with Mike Posner, Professor at …

This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dara Kay Cohen, a Ford Foundation Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research spans the field of international relations including: international security, civil war and the dynamics of violence, and gender and conflict. On this episode they discuss rap…

This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Yanilda María González, an Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School who researches police violence and how it relates to democracy and citizenship, with a focus on Latin America. In this conversation they discuss how to facilitate having dialogue around police…

How does a leader strive for social justice for their community and country? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women from 2013-2021, and the first woman to hold the position of Deputy President of South Afri…

This month on Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Sima Samar about the situation in Afghanistan, the status of women and girls in the country, and the role and responsibility of the international community. Dr. Samar is a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement and has held the positions of Speci…

For this month’s episode of Justice Matters, we’re digging into our archives to present a special episode for Black History Month. Featuring excerpts from three conversations with a range of speakers from academia and activism, our guests discuss the historical legacy of enslavement, the periods of progress followed by rollbacks, the promise and pe…

How does the country’s history affect the present — and how can we envision a more just future for everyone?Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a noted historian and professor at Harvard Kennedy School, as they discuss the legacy of slavery; the intersection of racism, economic inequalit…

How do the values being built into AI affect our public and private lives now and into the future? What is the importance of a global human rights framework in driving discussions around the democratization of AI? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Dr. Annette Zimmermann, political philosopher at the University of…

Human rights defenders are increasingly the targets of repression by states and private organizations. Join us this month on the Justice Matters podcast as host Sushma Raman talks with Nicholas Opiyo, Ugandan human rights lawyer and fellow at the Carr Center, about campaigning for civil rights and political freedoms in Uganda, and the clampdown on …

How are new information technologies used in both civic engagement and social control in countries around the world? What do human rights have to do with the global information environment? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Phil Howard, Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University and a Fellow at the Carr C…

How do democracies die? What lessons can we learn from the past as we seek to build more democratic societies and participatory public spheres? Join us this month on Justice Matters as host Sushma Raman talks with Steve Levitsky, Professor of Government at Harvard University, Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and …

How can we ensure accountability when international criminal law is violated? How do we approach seeking justice for past atrocities? And in an era of widespread disinformation, what happens when people lack trust in the very purveyors of justice? Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the ICC, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss accountability…

Can one movie make a difference in a nation's trajectory? Released in 1915, The Birth of a Nation was the first film to be screened in the White House. Mired in racists stereotypes, the film is credited with the resurgence of the KKK. In this month's episode of Justice Matters, Economist Desmond Ang joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the impact of …

How do science and technology affect rights, equity, and justice? When are techno-solutions inadequate in addressing societal problems? In this month's episode of Justice Matters, host Sushma Raman talks with Professor Sheila Jasanoff, a pioneer in the social sciences exploring the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of …

President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Margaret Huang, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the Center's tremendous growth, along with its challenges in the road ahead.By Sushma Raman, Margaret Huang

Regan Ralph, President and CEO for the Fund for Global Human Rights, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of leading an international human rights organization.By Sushma Raman, Regan Ralph

Join host Sushma Raman and co-author William Schulz as they reflect on past, present, and future human rights frameworks, and discuss their latest book, "The Coming Good Society."By Sushma Raman

Wade Henderson, interim president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the multigenerational and multiracial fight against systemic racism in the Unites States.By Sushma Raman, Wade Henderson

Joan Donovan–Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy—joins host Sushma Raman to discuss disinformation amidst the current political, public health, and human rights landscapes.By Joan Donovan, Sushma Raman

When should the law forgive? In this episode, Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor and former dean of Harvard Law School joins our host, Sushma Raman, to discuss the shortcomings of the current justice system in the U.S., and the importance of forgiveness as we think about reform.By Sushma Raman, Martha Minow

Carr Center Faculty Director, Mathias Risse, joins host Sushma Raman in a discussion on distributive justice, political philosophy, and human rights.By Sushma Raman, Mathias Risse

Dr. Megan Ming Francis and host Sushma Raman discuss how—for better or worse— philanthropic organizations have historically influenced the human rights agenda on a national and global scale.By Megan Ming Francis, Sushma Raman

Dr. Keisha N. Blain joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the historic context of Black internationalist movements both domestically and around the world.By Sushma Raman, Keisha N. Blain

Alan Jenkins, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School, joins host Sushma Raman to discuss the importance of communication as it intersects with matters of race, the law, and social justice.By Alan Jenkins, Sushma Raman

Teaming up with the Radical Imaginations podcast, we're thrilled to host Angela Glover Blackwell on this episode of Justice Matters. Join Angela and host Sushma Raman as they discuss perhaps not-so-radical solutions to systemic racial and economic inequity.By Sushma Raman, Angela Glover Blackwell

Kerry Kennedy joins host Sushma Raman to discuss how her nonprofit organization is addressing some of the most pressing human rights concerns of our time. Between transforming agricultural labor laws to promoting freedom of the press, Kennedy discusses the amazing work of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.…

Jonathan Ryan, CEO and President of RAICES (the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), joins our host, Sushma Raman, to discuss the intersection of immigrants' rights, the weaponization of technology, and the private prison system.By Jonathan Ryan, Sushma Raman

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, UN Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, discusses the ramifications of systemic discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities.By Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

In celebrating the 71st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, discusses the progress and challenges of the movement, both in her home country of Chile and around the world.By Sushma Raman, Michelle Bachelet

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, discusses gun violence and policy with Executive Director of the Carr Center, Sushma Raman.By Shannon Watts, Sushma Raman

North Korean defector, Joseph Kim, and Director of the Human Freedom Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute, Lindsay Lloyd, share personal and policy-oriented accounts of circumstances in North Korea.By Sushma Raman, Lindsay Lloyd, Joseph Kim

Matthew Smith – co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights, and Fellow at the Carr Center – discusses the Rohingya crisis, the importance of documentation, and the role of power in constructing narratives around human rights.By Matthew Smith, Sushma Raman